Catherine and the Cheeses

This picture was inspired by the Grimm Fairy Tale of Frederick and Catherine. Catherine is a silly soul, so she gets Malvolio-esque yellow stockings for her silliness. The particular instance illustrated is when one of Catherine's cheeses has rolled down a hill, so she sends her other cheeses down to fetch it up. No, they are not magic cheeses. Neither is Catherine magic.

You can read the whole story of Catherine HERE

Sketch Update

 Deborah. I drew this in a hostel in Barcelona. It is based on a real life Deborah. I once went to a party she had in St Andrews in 2007. My friend I was travelling with messaged Deborah, as it seemed we'd be in Barcelona at the same time, only to find that we were in fact booked into the same hostel. Evidence to a psychic link between all St Andreans perhaps? ... Well. There's a funding proposal I wouldn't like to draft.

Off soon!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Prague, then Vienna then Budapest, then a tour of Italy then... well, think of it as a Grand Tour, as did the artists of yore. I hope to come back sizzling with creativity. Or at least more appreciative of my own shower. Internet access may be erratic. But then, phone line at home is also down right now (great timing huh?), so getting used to it early. Farewell for now!

Happy New Year!

Day 13: My Family

Day 12: Favourite Fairytale

My favourite fairytale is The Cat Who Was King. I believe that was what it was called. I do not know where my mother's copy has got to and neither does said mother. It was yellow and the pictures looked nothing like these. 

Searching for it on the internet I found this tale by the famed fairytale writer Andrew Lang. He wrote all the coloured fairy books - The Blue Fairy Book etc. Also, I may have heard of him because he gave his name to a lecture series at St Andrews. This would be the kind of thing I would go to. These lecture series with  prestigious names always have canapes. Lang's tale is called The Colony of Cats and has some dissimilarities from the storybook I read as a child. The tale I remember did not have the girls working as servants for the cat king - who was definitely a king - they were just there on errands.

I have made my heroine Jewish, because of the star on her forehead reminding me of the Star of David. I suppose she could have just as well have been pagan. Next time.

The nasty stepsister kicks a kitten!

Despite the donkey's tail, the prince engaged to the heroine is tricked into getting into the wedding carriage with nasty girl wearing a huge, thick veil. He gets suspicious when she won't let him see under her veil, sounds entirely different - claiming she has a cold - and is just a grumpy-pants. So he tears off the veil, sees it's not his fiancee and pushes her out of the carriage. This latter part, seems somewhat unnecessary, seeing as how he could've just called the driver to stop. However, we must make allowances for the poor boy, since he's probably just had a nasty fright. 

Day 11: Turning Point in Your Life

These questions are getting a bit personal. I copped out and did my favourite literal turning point - imagine there's a signpost in front of this oblong blob. The oblong blog is the milkstand which is at the turning point between Traboe and Rosuick on the Lizard Peninsula. I guess my ancestors may have placed milk churns on it long ago.